This invention relates generally to radio frequency circuits and more particularly to radio frequency multiplier circuits.
As is known in the art, in those radio frequency applications where a source of radio frequency energy having a relatively high frequency is not directly provided from a radio frequency source such as an IMPATT diode or a field effect transistor, a frequency multiplier circuit is often used. The multiplier circuit provides the high frequency signal by using a non-linear device to generate an even frequency harmonic or odd frequency harmonic of a fundamental input signal. A plurality of filters is then used to remove the undesirable frequency components. One problem associated with the aforementioned technique is that the filters required to separate the harmonics provide a circuit which is generally complex and of relatively narrow bandwidth. Further, by using IMPATT diodes, for example, the circuits generally cannot easily be fabricated as monolithic integrated circuits.